A Mixture of Laughter and Tears
by Scubadiver101
Summary: Erica Talley is in her first year at Hogwarts. Along with her second year sister, Sirius Black, Lily Evans, and a father wihta criminal record, Erica makes it a year to remember. First fanfic please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: A) I am not British B) I am not rich C) I don't own Harry Potter, but if ligtning struck both mine and JK Rowling's houses, and we switched bodys so that I did own Harry Potter and I didn't have to take an Algebra Exam, I would probably have a spazz attack of joy.**

"GO! GO! GO!" Sirius Black was almost trampled by two girls who were running towards the Hogwarts Express at top speed. He looked at the girls who had nearly trampled him, and they grinned. A boy of about ten ran after them, followed by two red head girls who looked about nine.

"Hey, Jessie and Erica!" yelled the boy, who had black hair and pale green eyes.

"Hey what?" the girls who had mauled into Sirius yelled to him, even though he was a foot in front of them.

"We just thought that if you guys sneak us onto the train, then we can go to Hogwarts this year!" He yelled.

"I see two problems with your plan," said either Erica or Jessie, Sirius didn't know who was who, "A: You just screamed your plan to the world, and B: I tried that last year when Jessie went, and the sweet cart lady caught me before we had even left the station."

The older girl, who Sirius understood to be Jessie, snickered. "That was absolutely hilarious. You should have seen your face when she asked you to politely leave."

Erica pouted, "I would have gotten away with it if you hadn't have insisted on trying to store me in the luggage rack.

Everyone cracked up, including Sirius. The family looked at him strangely, and he boarded the train.

"OK you guys." Said Jessie, "Rick, you be good and don't give mom any trouble. Britta and Anne, send dad our luck."

The children hugged, and Jessie and Erica boarded the train. They entered the compartment where James Potter and Sirius Black were sitting, and sat down without asking if it was ok.

Sirius and James looked at Jessie and Erica. Erica was thin and short, with petite features and dark brown hair that was curly and went half way down her back. Jessie was short, with short and straight dark brown hair; she had tan skin, like Erica's whose skin was tanned and freckled. Erica was wearing bleached jeans and a bright pink shirt that said "Save the Animals". Jessie was wearing stonewashed jeans with a blue shirt that said "Brunettes Have More Fun".

"Hi," said Erica, "My name's Erica Tallie and this is my big sister, Jessie."

James said, "I'm James Potter, and this is my friend, Sirius Black."

"Hi.", Said Sirius.

"Are you guys first years?" asked Erica. James nodded and she squealed, "SO AM I!"

"I'm a second year," said Jessie, "And I am off to join my second year friends. "

With that, Jessie excited the compartment, Erica sticking her tongue out at her.

"We're the best of friends and the worst on enemies." She explained. James and Sirius nodded, slightly amused at this bubbly brunette.

"So, what house do you want to be in?" asked James.

"Gryffindor, like my sister." Erica said.

"Me too, my dad and mum were in Gryffindor!" James exclaimed.

Sirius said, "I want to be anywhere but Slytherin, that's where the rest of my family has been.

"Jesse said that Slytherin is for the bad people who smell bad." Erica said. Sirius and James grinned.

"You speak the truth," said Sirius, and the three of them laughed.

The trio talked for a long time, James telling them about his awesome mum and dad and his life, Sirius told them about his stinky Syltherin family, and Erica told them about her life, telling only the happy and funny parts, leaving out the more important facts. After a little while, a red head girl and a greasy haired boy entered.

"Hi, I'm Lily, and this is Severus. Can we sit here?"

They said yes, so Lily and Severus sat on the seat opposite Erica, Sirius, and James.

"Erica Tallie, is that you?" asked Lily staring at Erica with a look on her face that was somewhere between pity and hatred.

"Hey Lily," said Erica sounding defeated, and looking back at Lily with an unreadable look in her eyes.

"You two know each other?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah, her mom cleans our house. By the way Erica, I'm not really supposed to talk to you and Jessie."

Erica groaned, and put her face in her hands.

"Why aren't you supposed to talk to her and Jessie?" asked James.

"Because her dad is on trial for a murder that everyone in town knows he committed, and my mother doesn't want me associating with the daughter of a murder."

"HE DIDN'T DO THAT. MY DADDY COULD NEVER HAVE DONE THAT."

"Even so, I should not be talking to you."

"So don't." said Erica softly as she cried to herself. Sirius tried to comfort her, while James and Severus got into an argument. Finally, Lily got feed up and they left, and Erica continued crying.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Sirius, she shook her head, and left to change into her robes. She did not come back. After about half an hour, the train stopped, and they exited, excitement growing within them.

**So there it is my first chapter of my first story. Please review with constructive criticism. I want to get better than an A- in English, and I know that my teacher isn't helping me, so read, review and hang in here with ****me!!! ****(PLEASE BE PATENT!!)**


	2. Chapter 2

Erica ran as fast as she could to the very back of the train. She had already changed into her robes. She had changed in an abandoned compartment at the very front of the train. Now, she was running. Running had always been her outlet, it helped her clear her mind, and it helped her forget. She ran on and on, barely feeling her legs anymore. She sighed, this was the feeling she lived for, the feeling that if she ran fast enough, she could outrun her problems. Finally, she made it to the back of the train. She was forced to halt mid step, and her problems hit her again with a force that felt equal to a semi truck. She sank down and sobbed. She stayed there until the train stopped.

"Firs' years this way!" Erica could hear the call from the back of the train, she was known for her extraordinary hearing. She remembered eavesdropping on her parent's whispered conversations that came from the room down the hallway. She would yell her two cents to her parents, which her father usually reacted to by bursting out in laughter, and yelling back, "None of your business, rabbit ears!" Her father. Erica felt another sob in the back of her throat. No. No more. Erica stood up, composed herself, and walked towards the nearest exit. She had to move on.

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Lily sat in the boat, thinking about the train ride. She felt horrible about how she had treated Erica. If she were Erica, she knew she would need support through this, not people telling her that they could not talk to her. She would have to make this right. Erica's father had done a horrible thing, but this was hardly Erica's fault. She still remembered the horrible morning when her father had opened the newspaper, and there was Mr. Talley, Erica's father staring out from the front page. Her mother had gasped, and her father had shaken his head. Apparently, Erica's father the leading suspect in the murdering of Mr. Wood. Erica's mother cleaned their house, but her mother had fire her as soon as she found out about Mr. Talley.

Lily's mother had never approved of Lily befriending Erica. Erica lived in the bad side of town, where a large house had two rooms, and garbage litter front lawns. Lily lived on the opposite side of town, where a small house had two stories and nobody did their own house work. But maybe it was because of their completely different lives that they became best friends.

Erica was bold, loud, and extremely mischievous. Lily was quiet, a book worm, and liked to keep her nose out of trouble. You may think that Erica would be a bad influence on Lily, but she wasn't. She had introduced Lily to the side of life that wasn't all cocktail parties and new books. The thrift store, running through the park at night, and spying had all been introduced to Lily, and she had learned to live life to its fullest, like there was no tomorrow.

Erica had always been there for Lily, and Lily decided that from now one she would always be there for Erica.

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Erica had boarded the last of the boats, which held several boys that she knew would be sorted into Syltherin. They were rude to her, asking about her bloodline. When she had ignored them, and continued staring into the water, they muttered, "Mudblood." Erica looked up, stuck her tongue out at them, and had spent the rest of the trip in silence.

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Erica stared in awe at the great hall. They had just been lead in by Professor McGonagall, who had told them what was to happen. She made it to the front of the hall, and stared out into the crowd, meeting eyes with Jessie. Jessie gave her the thumbs up, and sorting began.

She watched Sirius, Lily, and James sorted into Gryffindor. She watched numerous other children have the hat placed on their heads, and finally it was her turn.

She walked up to Professor McGonagall, who lowered that hat so that it just barely skimmed the top of her head. Suddenly, before that hat was even all the way on her head, it screamed, "Gryffindor!" Erica scurried to Gryffindor table, feeling a sense of accomplishment.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry, I was bad and forgot to disclaim chapter 2. **

**Disclaimer: If you think that I own Harry Potter, then you should consider seeking professional help.**

**Okay, I am trying my hardest to right a good story, so please read and review!!!! PRETTY PLEASE?????**

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"So far, so good," thought Erica as she crawled into bed after her first day of Hogwarts. Lily had apologized and said that she was there for her, Sirius and James had stopped asking about her father, and all of her classes had potential. Except for maybe History of Magic, but she had decided that History of Magic would be her "Snooze and Doodle Class". "So far, so good," she thought as she drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, she woke up to a shaking bed. "EARTHQUAKE!!!" she screamed, before she realized that Jessie was shaking her bed. "What in the world Jessie?"Erica asked.

"Get dressed into your nicest court clothes and come with me."

"Why?"

"Dad's sentencing date has been changed, and we need to go NOW!"

"Oh." Erica sat up, and yawned, even though she didn't feel tired anymore. She had been dreading her father's sentencing since he was arrested in May. The case had gone fast compared to most murder trials, due to the fact that they had not been able to afford a good lawyer. And to the fact that most of the evidence pointed towards him. Erica knew that her father was innocent. She just knew it.

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Sirius was worried. Erica and Jessie had just disappeared. They had been gone all day, and it was dinner time now. Whenever he had asked a teacher about Erica, they would just get a grim look on their face and say that they had no idea where she was. He, James, Remus Lupin, and tag-a-long Peter had checked the hospital wing, and had even tried to go into the girls' dormitories, but the stairs had turned to a slide and they had slipped down, falling on top of each other. So, they had sent Lily up and she said that there was no sign of them.

When Sirius was about to go to Dumbledore himself when the portrait had opened, and Jessie and Erica stepped through. They looked awful. They were grasping each other's hand, and sobbing. Jessie was sobbing silently, while Erica was full on wailing. Without a word, they walked up to the girls' dormitories and disappeared up the stairs.

"Oh dear." Said Lily, and she ran up the stairs after them, followed by Jessie's best friend, Tina. Sirius looked at his friends, who had silently gone back to their work.

The whole common room was quiet for ten minutes, and then Lily and Tina came back down.

"They won't talk," Said Lily. Tina nodded, and went back to her other friends, talking to them in hushed tones.

Lily came over to Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus. "Maybe you can talk to her, she's still kind of uncomfortable about this around me, and I think this whole thing is about her dad."

"The stairs." Said Remus.

"Oh. Just tap the front stair with each of your wands three times, it'll let you right in. But I wouldn't try that if you ever have ill intents, it'll launch you into next year."

The boys nodded and started for the stairs.

"Wait," said Remus, "Peter and I probably shouldn't go, we hardly know her, and she won't feel comfortable around us.'

"Yeah, she won't even talk about it to Lily." Said Sirius.

Peter and Remus walked back to their couch, and Sirius and James went over to the stairs, tapped the first stair with their wands, and continued up the stairs. They entered the first room, the first year girls' dorm. They looked in, and saw Erica laying in the bad farthest from the door, crying onto a pillow.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Sirius.

To their surprise, she nodded and sat up. "It was my dad's sentencing. He got 20 years in prison, it was awful. Me and Jessie sat there all day; listening to all these old men discuss my father. Finally, they came to their decision. Dad stood up, and we just sat there. It was all out of our hands. Their minds were already made up, and we had to watch dad being carted off to prison. Anne and Rick and Britta and Mum were all there. We all sat there, watching our lives being torn apart in front of us."

She began to cry again, and Sirius and James stood there, comforting her for another hour before she fell asleep, completely worn out from her emotional and confusing day. When they were sure she was asleep, they left the room, only to find that they were not safe anymore from the slide. They tumbled down the slide/stairs, and rejoined Lily, Remus, and Peter.

**Okay, I'm sorry that this ended so emotional. Please read and review, so I have been lacking in the way of reviews. Remember, I'll never improve without criticism.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey Everyone. So far my reviews have been lacking. As in nonexistent. Please review!!! Oh, and if you thought that Erica told her tale a little too willingly and fast in the last chapter, it will all be explained her****e**

**Disclaimer: I am about as close to owning Harry Potter as my pet turtle is to becoming president. **

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After her break down the night before, Erica was back to normal. Or as close to normal as Erica could get. The next morning, she came down from her room in her robes, skipping. She seemed to walk on air through the day, while Jessie stayed gloomy. That night at dinner, she was talking to James and Sirius as though nothing had happen.

"I wonder what human meat tastes like." She said.

Peter, who was sitting next to her, slide down the bench a few inches away from her, Remus spat out his pumpkin juice, nailing Lily in the face "Sorry Lily," he apologized as she wiped off her face, looking disgusted.

"Why?" asked James, while Sirius tried not to laugh, failing miserably.

"Because I had this dream last night that me and my younger brother Rick were stranded in the wilderness with my uncle, and my uncle stabbed Rick in the back, and we made sandwiches out of him with some bread I found. He tasted like chicken."

That did it. James and Sirius burst out laughing. Remus looked amused and asked, "Why didn't you just eat the bread?"

"I don't know." Said Erica, and she was silent for a few seconds, thinking this over. "I think we needed protein."

With that, Remus joined James and Sirius laughing, and a few seconds later, so did Erica.

"I probably shouldn't have said that at the table," Said Erica.

"Probably not," said Peter as he put down his chicken sandwich. James, Sirius, and Erica had another laughing attack. People were staring now, but they didn't care.

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Jessie watched from down the table as Erica and her friends laughed it up over something that was probably ridiculous. How could she laugh after what had happened? Their father, the man who had raised them was in prison for 20 because of something he had not done. Erica was acting as if she had no respect for him. She would have to make her see what she was doing.

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After dinner in the great hall, Erica saw Jessie walking up to her.

"Go up without me," she told Remus, James, Sirius, and Peter. They nodded and continued toward the common room; Erica fell back and waited for her sister.

"Hey," she told Jessie, who looked upset.

"How could you?" demanded Jessie, not bothering to return Erica's greeting.

"What?"

"Dad. How could you be so happy-dappy knowing that right now dad is in prison for something he didn't do!"

People were staring, but Erica and Jessie ignored them.

"How could you act like this?" Erica asked Jessie, "Dad doesn't want us to stop living our lives because currently his is on pause. And yes, he is in prison for something that he didn't do, but that's it, he didn't do it. It's only a matter of time until the real murderer is caught, so stop mopping and start living!"

With that, Erica turned around briskly, and walked to the common room, stomping her feet. People stood out of her way, forming a path. Jessie stood in one place for a while, thinking. She needed to do exactly what Erica had done, let it all out in one breath, have a good cry, and move on.

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Two days later, it was as if nothing had happened. Both of the girls had moved on, to the relief of their classmates and themselves.

Erica had started telling everyone stories about their family, all of which were hilarious.

"So, me and my dad were wrestling, and he was winning, so I ran into the bathroom, shrieked that I was taking a shower and that he could not do anything about it. He yelled back that he wouldn't be so sure. Ten minutes later, I was rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, and the water stopped. He yelled "I win", and I screamed to him that this meant war. That night, me and Rick put all of our stuffed animals under the covers on his side of the bed. At midnight, he went to bed to find that he had a lot of furry little friends with him." Erica ended her story, and her audience burst out laughing. Erica smiled; she loved having a willing audience.

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Sirius watched Erica tell yet another hilarious story. "She is so pretty," said a little voice inside of him. "No, Erica is just a friend, a really pretty friend. And funny." Sirius groaned, he had it bad, and he knew it.

**Ok, there's another chapter. I hope you liked it. So, we're starting a little romance here, but I'm not changing the genre. ****Yet.**** What do you think? Should I start making the story a bit about romance, or should I continue with humor and drama. Review and stay tuned!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ok here we go with another chapter…**

**Disclaimer: Consider it disclaimed.**

**Ohh****…I also don't own the songs…duh**

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Jessie woke up on October 5th to an empty dormitory. "That's odd." She thought as she started getting dressed, "Usually at this time Livia is yelling at Andi to wake up. She ran down the stairs into the common room, finding it empty too. "Now that's really odd. Something's not right here."

Suddenly, Erica jumped out at her from behind a couch. "Jeremiah was a bullfrog!" she screamed.

Shocked at the randomness of this, Jessie nearly forgot the next line, which was always sung by her, "Was a good friend of mine!"

The sisters continued together, "Never understood a single word he said…" at this, the rest of the house jumped out, screaming "Surprise!" and "Happy Birthday!"

"That's right!" Jessie screamed, "It is my birthday!"

"Nooooo!!!" Erica screamed to her, and at that the two sisters linked arms and sang the rest of "their" song. Everyone laughed at the antics of the sisters as they jumped on a coffee table and started dancing.

Finally, Erica and Jessie jumped down from the table. Erica suggested crowd surfing, but Jessie quickly told her that she just wanted her presents.

"How could I forget!?" asked Erica, slapping her forehead. At that, James and Sirius and Remus walked up to them, dumping about 10 presents at Jessie's feet.

Jessie pounced onto the presents and held up the first one. "It's from Livia, Andi, Kylie, Lynn and Tammy!" she said, referring to the girls in her dormitory. She opened the present to reveal a complete basket from Honeyduke's. "Thanks you guys!" she yelled

"You had to give her sugar," Grumbled Erica.

"Hey, you're the one who ran up and down the street at midnight screaming 'I'm a chocolate maniac!' after Rick and you found mom's secret chocolate hideaway and proceeded to eat about 20 boxes."

"A: That was a dare. B: We ate at least 20 boxes and five bars before we got quite that hyper, and C: It is your birthday, not share-a-story time. Now open up another present." Erica answered back to her.

"Note to self: never give Erica chocolate." Said Sirius in a loud whisper, Erica smiled, rolled her eyes, and hit Sirius on the arm.

"You hit hard for a girl," Said Sirius, rubbing his arm.

"You're just a sissy." Erica whispered back, grinning. Sirius hit her back, but Erica did not even flinch.

"If you two are quite finished I would like to open my next present," Said Jessie, looking at them with a faux annoyed look on her face.

Erica and Sirius grinned sheepishly and nodded. Jessie reached for her next present. "Oh…It's from Lily and Erica!!" She opened the present, it was a stuffed goat. "Funny funny," She said.

"Maybe there's more to it," Said Erica grinning.

"Maybe," Repeated Lily, smiling as she held her wand over the goat, which immediately transformed into a box of Filibuster Fireworks.

"AWESOME!!!" Jessie screamed, "Let's try these out tonight, thanks Lily and Erica!!"

Lily and Erica grinned, and Jessie reached for her next present, "It's from Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter!" She said. Jessie ripped off the paper, and held up a stuffed goat, "What does this one turn into?" she asked.

"Actually that's just a stuffed goat," Said James.

"I thought that girls were all crazy for stuffed animals." Sirius said, defending the present.

"I do love stuffed animals, thanks you guys!" Jessie said, reaching for her next present. And so it went on for about 20 minutes, Jessie opening presents and thanking her friends. Finally, the last present was opened.

Everyone got up, and started going down for breakfast. Jessie started picking up her presents to carry them back to the dormitory. Erica saw her gathering the presents and walked over to help her, signaling for Lily and the rest to go ahead without her.

"You know, there was a present from home." Erica told Jessie.

"Yeah, remember mom and the kids sent me that kitten," reminded Jessie, referring to one of the more exciting gifts, which Jessie had named "Lou Anne". Lou Anne was currently being carried by Jessie, while Erica carried the rest of the presents .

"I mean that there's more."

"Really?" asked Jessie, petting the ginger kitten as it slept in her arms.

"Yeah, actually dad sent a letter to mom, and mom sent it to me with a note that said to give it to you after you had opened the rest of your presents." Erica looked at the ground as she said this, there father was a subject that was usually better left unmentioned. Erica and Jessie sometimes mentioned him in the funny stories that they told their classmates, but besides that they pretended he had never existed.

Jessie looked so shocked that she almost dropped Lou Anne. At this point, they were at her door. Jessie opened the door, and the sisters stepped into the dormitory in silence. Erica dropped the presents on Jessie's bed, and Jessie sat the ginger kitten on Livia's bed. Erica handed Jessie the note.

"Should I open it?" asked Jessie.

"I don't know. It's the first time he's tried to communicate since the sentencing." Erica looked down at the floor in deep thought.

"You know, I don't think I should open it." Jessie told Erica.

"That's exactly what I was thinking." Erica said, looking over at Lou Anne, who was still sleeping soundly.

"I think," Jessie started, Erica looked at her intently. "I think that it's just enough that he tried to communicate with me. Whatever's in this letter will just disappoint me. I'm just going to save the letter, and whenever I look at it, I'll remember that dad tried. I won't remember whatever he wanted to tell me."

Erica nodded, "What if he admits in there that he actually did murder that man? This means that if you are asked at an appeal if you know anything, you can truthfully say 'no'."

"That's a new way to look at it," Jessie said, sounding a little choked up. Erica turned around and hugged her sister. They sat there like that for a while. They had both needed this moment and that letter. Finally, Erica broke the hug.

"Hey, we only have 20 more minutes of breakfast, let's go eat."

With that, the two sisters exited the dormitories, feeling better than they had in a long time.

**Ok, there's another chapter… you know you want to review:-) **


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